The minimum aerobic capacity for independent living at 85 was estimated at about 18 (men) and 15 (women) mL/kg/min
What VO₂max do you need to live independently at 85?
The finding
Paterson estimated the minimum compatible with independent living at 85 at about 18 mL/kg/min for men and 15 for women; VO₂max fell about 0.31 (men) and 0.25 (women) mL/kg/min a year in this age range. FNIH’s recommended weakness cut-offs are grip under 26 kg (men) and under 16 kg (women).
- Authors
- Paterson DH, Cunningham DA, Koval JJ, St Croix CM; Studenski SA, Peters KW, Alley DE, et al. (FNIH)
- Published
- Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 31(12):1813–20; Journals of Gerontology A 69(5):547–58 · 1999; 2014
- Evidence
- Read in the primary source; numbers checked.
- Source
- doi.org/10.1097/00005768-199912000-00018
How it was studied
Paterson: treadmill VO₂max in 298 independently living people aged 55–86 from a random survey subset. FNIH: a sarcopenia project pooling cohorts to set weakness cut-offs.
What it does not show
Paterson’s threshold is an estimate from one Canadian sample. The FNIH cut-offs mark weakness, not the ability to do a particular task.
What Longstanding does with it
These numbers anchor several goals. The hike goal (30 / 26 mL/kg/min at 85) and the brisk-walk goal (24 / 21) sit above the independence estimate; the jar goal’s 26 kg for men is exactly the FNIH cut-off. The rest of each target is judgment.
Related
- The centenarian decathlon: list what you want to do at the end of life, then work backwards to todayAttia P · 2019
- The European sarcopenia definition uses low strength, not low muscle mass, as the primary signCruz-Jentoft AJ · 2019
- In the same people over time, VO₂max decline speeds up: 3–6% per decade in the 20s, over 20% from the 70sFleg JL · 2005